30 November 2005

we just saw this as you can tell on drudge and had to blog it. this is another great photo of the type we've read some people say is subliminally suggestive to the viewer that president bush has a halo. lol. another example we can think of this type of propaganda is time magazines cover. sometimes the m in time is situated over the subjects head as to appear as devil horns. anyway there are lots of examples like this one of president bush being photographed in this halo effect and within other religious imagery.

kudos to rev scott a. callaghan for taking the time to write the local paper about this blight on central louisiana and louisiana as a whole. many years ago we received a speeding ticket from woodworth. friends and we were leaving the indian creek recreation area which unfortunately to access you must pass through woodworth. the woodworth fuzz busted us coming down a hill doing 27 mph in a 25. back then they took your license for safe keeping. we remember it wound up costing around $70 to get back.

Thanks a lot!

During October, I was in Alexandria volunteering with a internationally-acclaimed relief organization. I have fond memories of your city, its cafes, restaurants, hotels, and especially the people, who taught me what "Southern hospitality" means. I worked 16-hour days at the shelter hosted in the Rapides Parish Coliseum. Each day I worked side by side with officers from the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Department. They were friendly, professional, competent and courteous.

One evening the shelter manager asked me to provide transportation for other volunteers who were staying at the staff shelter in Woodworth. It was the first time I had been to Woodworth so I got lost several times. I turned the organization's well-marked van around and started back toward Woodworth. It was dusk and to avoid getting lost yet again I was paying close attention to the street signs and landmarks. A Woodworth police officer pulled me over and informed me I was slightly exceeding the speed limit and issued me a fine for $100. I tried to explain I was a volunteer, lost and distracted as I scanned the sides of the road for directions to the camp. My explanations fell on deaf ears.

Later that evening I discovered three other Red Cross volunteers had also been ticketed in Woodworth. A Rapides Parish Sheriff's Department officer overheard us commiserating and expressed his embarrassment and regret. He implied that Woodworth was an infamous speed trap and had a reputation for preying upon motorists as a form of revenue collection. Knowing my stint as a volunteer would end the next morning, he suggested I leave the speeding ticket with him and he would attempt to have the sheriff quash it. In the usual friendly and accommodating tone I had come to expect from the officers of the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Department, he told me his department would call me if they could not quash the ticket. I never received a call and assumed the matter was settled.

Recently I received notification that the Woodworth police had issued a warrant for my arrest. The letter informed me I could be arrested at my place of residence or employment by any peace officer of the state of Louisiana. Replete with two spelling errors, the letter suggested I could "avoid this embarrassment" by paying the fine which had now grown to $225. As I mulled over the letter, I concluded that it is not me that should be embarrassed. It is the Woodworth Police Department.

Regardless of the organization with which we volunteered, tens of thousand of warm-hearted Americans flocked to Louisiana to help Louisianans after Katrina. Many of us -- myself included -- gave up our annual vacation time and spent hundreds of our own dollars to offer a lending hand. We poured countless thousands of dollars into the local economies of towns where we served, and we felt good about our contribution to the rebuilding effort. I came back to my home in Indiana awash in the many heart felt "thank yous" I received from evacuees.

Now this, a warrant for my arrest! I have no intentions of paying the fine and will donate the money to the American Red Cross instead. Given there is a warrant for my arrest in the state of Louisiana, I will never be able to visit your great state again. This saddens me to no end. Thanks to the Woodworth Police Department my memories of my trip to Louisiana are now soiled. Thanks a lot.

We evacuated to Alexandria the day before Hurricane Katrina. We were lucky and had good friends to give us a place to weather the storm. Instead of being able to call it a mini-vacation and head back home a couple of days later, we lost our home, its contents and our jobs.

Around Oct. 1, my wife had her first opportunity to work a day in Lafayette. We headed out to Lafayette at 5 a.m. Our friends told us it would be shorter to go to Woodworth and over to I-49, which we did. Not being familiar with the road, we drove slowly and watched for the signs. It was very dark. I watched for cars pulling out of a convenience store and continued along the road. I did not see a speed limit sign so I felt the speed limit was probably about 45 mph like similar roads in Louisiana. It seemed also to be a safe speed under the conditions. After another quarter mile, an officer spun around in the road and pulled me over.

He proceeded to tell me that I was going close to twice the posted speed. I explained I was trying to obey the speed and in fact I worked for the Orleans Parish Sheriff Office and always tried to obey the law. I also explained that I was driving my wife two hours to work, her only day of work in over a month. I asked him to please understand our situation and that I was trying to obey the law. He proceeded to tell me that "he" was not the one going twice the speed limit. At this point, my wife was crying and I wanted to go calm her. I took my license and the ticket and told the officer that he was heartless. As I was leaving, I noticed a 45 mph speed limit sign about 50 feet from my car.

My wife called our friend and asked him if there was anything he could do and he agreed to try. He called the mayor of Woodworth and explained our situation and that it was going to take all the money ($190) she would make for the month to pay the ticket. The mayor told him to get me to call him. When I got back from taking my wife to Lafayette to work, I called the mayor. Instead of really listening to my story, all I heard was (several times!) that he was helping people, too, and he had people staying with him. He told me that since I said his officer was heartless he could not help me. Obviously, he had reached the total number of people he could help and was not in the mood to help anyone else.

After I have had time to reflect on this, and after reading the letter written by the Red Cross volunteer, the Rev. Scott Callaghan, I have made some conclusions. First, I was correct when I said the officer was heartless. I am certain the mayor is heartless, and now I have to assume since the people elected him and keep voting him back in office, that they must also be heartless. It is pretty obvious to me now why a town like Alexandria flourishes and a town like Woodworth just stands still. I only hope I can repay them all -- Alexandria and our friends for their kindness and Woodworth for their heartless deeds.

this morning moon griffon had pollster bernie pinsonet on his program. mr pinsonet shared some polling data his firm has recently taken. we had hoped to have a few sound clips of the interview but the live stream we usually listen to was having technical problems in that the stream was working intermittently. so if we tried to record there would be long silent places. anyway this is what we managed to write about:

29 November 2005

so yesterday morning we were listening online to the moon griffon show and playing with our new toy the power mp3 recorder. no not playing evaluating thats it. anyway some guy called in claiming to be a member of the 82nd airborne detailed to new orleans. first of all we doubt the caller is really a member of the 82nd airborne. and secondly this is mostly a test to see if we can do this right. so if you want to listen to the call click here its a 39 second clip thankfully moon cut to a commercial. if anyone from the 82nd airborne happens by please give this jackass a blanket party .

we came across this news item this morning and its really good news. a sign hopefully. we know that there are many of us working for change here in louisiana too. you know i put tom delays mug shot up because he has been in the news so much lately, one thing that occurs to me is when did the law allow the well known to pose in their mug shots? arent you supposed to be holding a small chalkboard with the date and your prisoner number? like this oneXanyway we are really anxious to see how coming elections will play out - are we serious or not in throwing the bums out.heres a nice quote by chad rogers of the dead pelican he says it so eloquently: Things can change, but it won’t come with the current attitude of Louisiana’s people. I’m tired of blaming our elected officials; they are simply a mirror image of us. They are a reflection of our states values, hopes, and dreams. They’re us; we’re them. Louisiana is the way it is because we want it that way. When we don’t want it anymore, it will stop.

Scripps Howard News ServiceThrow-the-bums-out campaigns are getting a boost from the Internet. Take a look at Pennsylvania, where voters are irate at the Keystone State's politicians for devising a clever scheme to get around a constitutional prohibition against raising their own pay. Incumbents pushed through a law giving themselves immediate salary increases of more than $11,000 by padding their expense accounts.

Lawmakers felt voter wrath over their backdoor pay raise would subside before next year's legislative elections. But they didn't count on grassroots campaigns launched overnight on the Internet, where groups like PaCleansweep.com and RocktheCapital.org are happily stoking voter outrage about lawmaker perks, fat pensions and leased cars with Web sites featuring the sounds of squealing pigs.

In this month's balloting, the anti-incumbent groundswell scored a victory by ousting a state Supreme Court judge - the first time in 36 years state voters rejected a judge. More incumbents are lined up for defeat next November.

24 November 2005

we were posting on the town talks thread on the pensacola news journal forum (the town talk and the pnj are owned by the same company- gannett) until one morning we woke up to check some threads that were of interest to us and found that "soulless angels" had paid a visit. iam glad to see that the news journal has restored the forum. i hope they readd the forum for the alexandria daily town talk.visit the new pensacola news journal forum hereX

22 November 2005

poor senator marionneaux lost his cool today in the la state senate. while its true that talk radio has been continually shining a light on their shenanigins most of the funniest moments have came from watching the senate and committees live online. we noted how you withheld the live feed that day when the senate committee was discussing senate bill 6 a bill by senator jones that some talk radio hosts called "the voter fraud act" now come on that wasnt moon griffon or c b forgotston or chad at the dead pelican that did that now was it? no it was you all.

====

SEN. ROB MARIONNEAUX: "TALK RADIO IS GARBAGE"

TUESDAY NOV. 22, 2005 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 3:35 PM CT

A tense, bitter debate over the proposed sales tax holiday erupted on the senate floor Tuesday, the last day of Louisiana's special session of the legislature.

One Senator Shepherd expressed concern over the bill, saying that it had been altered "behind closed doors," and therefore should be returned to committee, and discussed in a more "open forum."

His colleague, Senator Rob Marionneaux, then took the floor. He agreed that the bill was somewhat of a disappointment, but he felt that sending it back to committee would be a mistake.

Sen. Clo Fontenot arose to challenge Sen Marionneaux, pointing out that the session had two more hours remaining. Fontenot maintained that more time should be spent on the bill. Fontenot pointed out that the "talk radio shows" and "special interests" had already given them a hard time about the bill. He said that talk radio in particular had been making fun of the senate.

With these statements, Marionneaux went ballistic. Nearly shouting, Marionneaux lashed out at talk radio.

"If we don't pass this bill today, then the talk radio hosts will have a field day tomorrow!" erupted Marionneaux.

"I don't listen to that garbage!" he shouted.

"Too bad their constituents do listen," laughed a source in the Louisiana talk radio world.

new email virus spreading fast! so far this morning ive received all these virus emails this is the most that i have received of one virus outbreak in years please be wary of suspicious attachment laden emails. the virus alert is below click on picture for larger view

21 November 2005

As of November 21, 2005 2:20 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST, GMT -8:00), TrendLabs has declared a Medium Risk Virus Alert to control the spread of WORM_SOBER.AG. TrendLabs has received several infection reports indicating that this malware is spreading in the USA, Belgium, Canada, Brazil, and New Zealand.

This memory-resident worm propagates by attaching a copy of itself to an email message, which it sends to target recipients using its own Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) engine. Since it's email propagation does not require any user intervention, the user is often unaware that this worm is sending out email messages.

Message body: (any of the following)hey its me, my old address dont work at time. i dont know why?!in the last days ive got some mails. i' think thaz your mails but im not sure!plz read and check ...cyaaaaaaa

---

This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.

SMTP_Error []I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message.This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.The full mail-text and header is attached

The attached .ZIP file contains the copy of this worm using the following file name:File-packed_dataInfo.exe

When executed, it displays a fake error message box in order to trick a user into thinking that the file did not properly execute.

This worm searches the process list of the affected system for mrt.exe, the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool process. If found, it terminates the said process thus making the system more vulnerable to malicious attacks.

20 November 2005

we missed the 60 minutes episode tonight about how nola is sinking and there should be a gradual pullout of the whole city it caught a lot of buzz today because someone with the governors office asked cbs to put off the broadcast because they thought that it wasnt balanced the state based this on what they saw on the cbs website in other words the teaser anyway we stopped by our old haunt the nola.com sound off forum heres some excerpts:

we can rebuild Iraq, Afghanistan and so many other countries, we rebuilt England, France, Italy, Spain and the rest of Europe after WWII but yet there is a question as to whether or not New Orleans should be rebuilt?

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY AND THIS GOVERNMENT?

Stop sending the yearly welfare checks around the globe and put that money into rebuilding one of the greatest cities this country has ever had!

Damn this place pisses me off sometimes.

This is a no brainer. Oh wait, I'm sorry. We're talking about an American city. America hasn't been for American's for a long time now.

Long live the f'n illegal immigrant!

65867.1. Out To Seaby CompTeach, 11/20/05 20:47 ETRe: Just saw 60 Minutes by enuffizenuff, 11/20/05I'm interested in watching Sunday night. I wonder if Congress will take these "findings" and help NOT rebuild New Orleans.http://www.cbsnews.com

65867.1.1. Don't forgetby Stevieb66, 11/20/05 20:50 ETRe: Just saw 60 Minutes by enuffizenuff, 11/20/05that these are Liberal Democrat Profs making these comments. They think that we are in the way of the enviroment re-claiming its own. Therfore we are "Bad Human Race, Bad!"

65867.1.2. if it means thatby enuffizenuff, 11/20/05 20:50 ETRe: Just saw 60 Minutes by enuffizenuff, 11/20/05they can then spread that money out to the wealthy then you can bet your bottom dollar they will try to weasel out.

There should be no question but then again we are too busy giving hundreds of billions of dollars away each year outside of this country to have the money to be able to rebuild something that sits on our shores.

65867.2. DOOMEDby oldmetry, 11/20/05 21:08 ETRe: Just saw 60 Minutes by enuffizenuff, 11/20/05That is exactly how I felt after watching this expose'.So, I guess that went a long way in depeciating our properties, as well. Thanks so much.Now what? Stay tuned until "they" decide whether New Orleans is worthy?I am totally depressed. There were absolutely NO positive points about our city. Why weren't other people who held differing views included? That's the media for you.Makes me want to go and jump off the Mississippi River Bridge!!!!!!!!!Wait. Did ya'll feel that? I think we just lost another acre of coastline........

65867.2.1. Spud is that you?by Stevieb66, 11/20/05 21:12 ETRe: Just saw 60 Minutes by enuffizenuff, 11/20/05Come on!!! We will be back and better than ever. Even if we have to do it ourselves.

we received this in the ol inbox from our new pal mohammed...we removed the email addresses to protect the naive. here is what the secret service says about "advance fee" fraud.

Dear Friend, Good dayemail addres; moha_ab234@[removed].com

I got your contact through my private search, I therefore decided to contactyou .I am the second son of General Sanni Abacha, the late Military Head ofState of Nigeria.

When my father was alive I used to move funds, in cash, running intomillions of United States dollars to Brazil, Lebanon and other parts of theworld, for safe keeping on behalf of my father.

However, on the eve of my father's death in June 8, 1998, he gave me the sumof US$40.3(FORTY MILLION THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) incash to move to Lebanon as usual, but immediately my father died I had tomove the fund to HOLLAND through a diplomatic courier service to a ZenithSecurity Company in HOLLAND.

The funds have been in the security company in HOLLAND since July 1998.However, because of the many restrictions placed on my family by the presentNigerian Government, I simply cannot travel to HOLLAND to secure the fundsfrom the security company in HOLLAND.

What I now need from you are as follows:-

1.You should travel to HOLLAND to secure the funds in cash on my behalf anddeposit it in your bank account in your Country.

2.You will be entitled to 30% of the total sum involved for your assistance.

3.As soon as you confirm to me by my above e-mail address your readiness totravel to

HOLLAND, I will send a copy of my Power of Attorney to the security companyin HOLLANDauthorizing them to release the funds to you.Also the deposit slip/change ofownership on your name.

4.As soon as you have the fund in your custody, I will give you details ofwhere and which sector you will invest my share of the funds into, on mybehalf.

5.Please note that this project is 100% risk free, but you must have to keepit uttermost secret and confidential because of my personal security.

**updated** 9:45 pm cdt tuesday 18 july 2006we've noticed that the video hosted on kmod.com hasnt been working for ages. we have emailed kmod's webmaster several times to let them know but they havent bothered to reply to our emails nor has the video been fixed either. so, we decided to check on youtube for this vid and found one there the embed is below but if you cant see the embed the youtube url is: http://youtube.com/watch?v=mtUU5HghqZw

19 November 2005

In a departure from a long-standing tradition—necessitated by Hurricane Katrina’s destructive swath through the Gulf Coast region—Fair Grounds opened it’s 2005-’06 meeting on Saturday about 350 miles across the state from its New Orleans home and about a week early.

While the meet usually begins each year on Thanksgiving day and with a stakes named for the holiday, the meet kicked off with the $50,000 Gentilly Handicap for two-year-old state-breds at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City—but not without most horsemen counting their blessings for the 37-day meet, which is the shortest in the track’s modern history.

The stakes schedule for the meet, which runs through January 22, is about half the number in previous years—missing most notably the Louisiana Derby (G2), an important prep on the road to the Triple Crown—but purses are expected to average approximately $315,000 per day, the largest ever for a meet in Louisiana.

"When the meet started today, it was like the Breeders’ Cup or the Kentucky Derby (G1)," said longtime Fair Grounds trainer Gerald Romero. "We were worried that there wouldn’t be a Fair Grounds meet. It’s very exciting for us, and the horsemen are very grateful to Churchill Downs and Harrah’s Louisiana Downs for working together to make this happen."

"It’s a great thing; we are very thankful," trainer Pat Mouton said of opening day. "Without this meet, we’d be scattered all over the country." Trainer Wes Hawley echoed those sentiments.

"This is the best thing the horsemen could have hoped for," he said.

Jerry Lee’s Desert Wheat zipped from off the pace to win by four lengths as the 3-to-5 favorite in the one-mile Gentilly, carded as the ninth race on the ten-race card. The victory was his second in seven career starts. Trained by Tony Richey and ridden by E. J. Perrodin, the son of Wheaton out of the Royal Academy mare Absoluta (Ire) covered the mile in 1:38.22 over firm turf. Willtosucceed outfinished Waystogeaux by a head for second in the ten-horse field.

Desert Wheat, who was bred by Harry Rosenblum, won his first race in his third start, scoring by a neck in a maiden special weight race at Retama Park on August 11. He entered Saturday’s race off a third-place finish in the Woodford Reserve Bourbon Stakes on October 28 at Keeneland Race Course.

"That’s the first [stakes race] for Fair Grounds at Louisiana Downs," said Lee. "He’s a real nice two-year-old. We’re going to let the horse tell us where we’re going."

Because admission is not charged at the track, there were no attendance figures. On-track, fans wagered $241,518 on the ten-race card. Total handle was $2,595,695, Daily Racing Form reports. Last year’s opening day in New Orleans saw 7,465 wager $473,725. All source handle was $2,906,168.

About midday on Saturday, Sean Alfortish, president of the Louisiana Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, noted the importance of the 134th Fair Grounds meet.

"This marks the beginning of resiliency of horse racing in Louisiana," he said. "It’s going to set a mark for the future. This is a classic case of horse racing overcoming adversity as it has in the past, such as economic depression, recession, stock market crashes.

"In Louisiana, horse racing again takes center stage as the number one sport in the state," he said.—Myra Lewyn

still aint got them school buses rollin?--------------65718.1. Shoot! Forming...by CiiiTiiSon, 11/17/05 18:44 ETRe: nola's empty pate by carolinafats, 11/17/05...Committees and study groups is hard work-- and of Tectonic(plate) proportions, too.-------------65718.2. FEMA is going to put up some festive curtains,by cranemom, 11/17/05 18:53 ETRe: nola's empty pate by carolinafats, 11/17/05strap a port-o-lit to the back door and use the buses for evacuees to stay in.

Will make it easy to evacuate the next time, just drive outa there.-------------5718.2.1. Somebody...by CiiiTiiSon, 11/17/05 18:58 ETRe: nola's empty pate by carolinafats, 11/17/05...Said they could either roe or wade outta Dodge.-------------65718.2.1.1. Was that a real statement or has that been anby cranemom, 11/17/05 19:01 ETRe: nola's empty pate by carolinafats, 11/17/05ongoing joke? I just can't believe any one would say such a thing.----------

17 November 2005

oak alley after katrina====click here for Hi-Res pre-Katrina picture's of Oak Alley from the morning of 20 august 2005

====

we received this email from Oak Alley tonight:

URGENT!

Oak Alley Plantation'sHurricane Katrina Economic Disaster Fund

Oak Alley needs your help and financial assistance. While we were very fortunate the plantation did not suffer extreme physical damage from Hurricane Katrina, we find ourselves trapped in the economic disaster facing the tourism industry that is unfolding throughout the Gulf Coast region.

To that end, we are launching our first-ever major fundraising campaign.

Oak Alley is suffering a catastrophic loss of revenue. Katrina has devastated the tourism industry in and around New Orleans. Because Oak Alley is primarily supported by its admissions revenue, we urgently need help to survive. Prior to Katrina we averaged 736 visitors per day. Post Katrina, during the months of September and October, we averaged only 27 visitors per day.

Although we have reduced our staff from 75 employees to 21 and our operating expenses to a bare minimum, our projected worst case scenario anticipates an average shortfall of $65,000 per month for up to 18 months, while we wait for tourism to rebound. Until then, we will require in excess of one million dollars of financial assistance to keep Oak Alley open and running.

The threat of decreased revenue during this extended period of economic crisis places this National Historic Landmark, one of our nation's international icons for the antebellum south, in a serious financial crisis.

Your help can support the strength of our outstanding core staff, the integrity of our rigorous maintenance program and the preservation of this national treasure that has come to mean so much to so many people. In return, we pledge to maintain the high standards of stewardship our visitors have witnessed over many years. Your support will enable us to keep our doors open and rise against the economic devastation that has affected Oak Alley.

We thank you in advance, from the bottom of our hearts, for considering a donation to the Oak Alley Foundation by becoming a member of our Friends of Oak Alley.

I wish I could ask this question of every Louisiana citizen who works, pays taxes, and expects decent government. “How does it feel to be an indentured servant of the state?”

Because that’s what you are.

The Louisiana State Senate just voted to allow for a “plan for registration, early voting, absentee voting by mail, and election day voting,” anytime the state is under an “gubernatorial declared disaster or emergency.”

With this vote, the Senate has opened the door for massive election fraud in this state. The key is the phrase “absentee voting by mail.” This allows anyone, to send in a ballot, and vote an election without any verification of their identity.

Before the passage of this bill, voters could register by mail, but would have to appear in person to vote. They had to sign the register, and had to show identification. Now, none of that is necessary. A potential voter can register from by mail from anywhere and vote the same way. They never have to appear in person...ever.

This vote has a chilling effect on every citizen of the state. For every vote to change the status quo and reform Louisiana state government, the powers in Baton Rouge and New Orleans can now enter a canceling vote. The concept of fair voting in Louisiana is gone, wiped out with the vote of 24 senators.

This bill allows those who have abused the citizens of this state for their own personal gain, to continue that abuse. It practically insures that the corruption which infects Louisiana will continue unabated. It renders your vote worthless.

The betrayal comes from those who voted for this sham.

We expected this type of underhanded behavior from some of these senators, like Diana Bajoie and Ann Duplessis who stand to lose most of their base because they have taken up residence our of state. We expected this from Senator Charles Jones who has more ethics violations than any other current member of the Louisiana Senate. We did not expect this type of betrayal from Senators Jay Dardenne, Sherri Cheek, Art Lentini and Gerald Theunissen.

These senators have taken the support and faith of their constituents, and betrayed them. They have smiled and reassured the voters that they would stand for honest state government, and then sold their vote for the promise of future political favors from a corrupt New Orleans contingent.

There were voices from around the state which held out hope that somehow the hurricanes would afford Louisiana another chance at legitimacy. Maybe, just maybe, our kids might come back home. Businesses would return. Taxes would become more reasonable, state government would become more responsible.

That hope is now gone, erased by four men who betrayed an entire state.

from an email on 12 november:It's a funny thing, I was supposed to stay at the Sheraton on Canal butwhen I got there there were pieces of heavy equipment in front and it didn'tlook safe to go underneath so I called from my cell phone to see if therewas another way in. The receptionist told me to wait, in the meantime apolice officer went past and said that the sheraton was closed. I told him Ihad a reservation and in typical NO style he told me I might be waiting along time. :-) ... so when the receptionist came back on line I asked her ifit was closed, she said no, I asked how to get in and she said she couldn'tget through to that Sheraton. she wasn't even there, she didn't know thehotel was closed and she was a Sheraton employee. She was in another state,in a central call center. unreal. I went [someplace else], where I'vestayed b4, and even though they are officially closed they rented me 2weeks.

they know me there, maybe that's why, I don't know. there were FEMA andsmall business admin people staying there also. and I think some contractorsand a lot of suits were staying there, they looked like FBI but I'm surethey weren't.

some of my friends in slidell had no damage but they are leaving nolapermanently anyway.

it's such a strange situation....When I was still there I watched the mayor on tv, he had town hall meetings.some of the stuff was pretty scary. local contractors being evicted fromhotels to allow immigrant contractors in. pretty scary stuff. also I saw thebig mess hall (a tent set up for lunch and dinner) that the contractors areeating at. it's really a weird situation. it reminded me of slave days,rightly or wrongly so, when people brought in cheap labor. it just doesn'tseem right. some contractors and service workers are sleeping in makeshifttents en masse under overpasses.

I see blanco on tv all the time asking for federal aid but I think she mayhave lost her credibility and that's why not much is getting done the way itneeds to be done.

a friend of ours just returned to her home at new orleans for the first time (friday 11/4 till friday 11/11) since katrina. her firm has an office in los angeles and she has had to move there to work full time. we thought you might be interested in a first hand account of life in the city...

sunday 06 november:the quarter is like a ghost town. today, there was nothing open for breakfast, except the royal sonesta and breakfast was $16.95. most places are closed for lunch, even during the week. some have limited menus. ralph and kackoos has almost full menu, napolean house has 4 sandwiches and 1 salad on the menu.

friday 11th november after returning home to california:Hi. I just got in, the flights were horrible. anyway, every place I ate at and visited the people thanked me and gushed all over me and told me to have all my friends and family come back to nola. they really need the business. it was a hard time fighting back my tears all the time. going into new orleans from louis armstrong we took a little diversion, my driver showed me the walmart that was looted, that was all over tv every day. it was devastating to see miles and miles of beautiful homes totally destroyed. it was like a horror movie. there was absolutely not one person anywhere, just the occasional humvee filled with soldiers rolling by.

there's no power in many areas. the streetcars are not running. most of the people I laughed with and joked with are gone to Texas, Kansas, New Jersey. many say they will not return. if you love new orleans, and I think you do, tell everyone you know to go there for the holidays. most businesses are hanging on by a thread and need the tourist money.

[was going to stay till friday 11/18] i just couldn't stay. it was too heartbreaking, but I will go back for the holidays and each time I go back I will stay a little longer. looking at the absolute destruction broke my heart. it is as if a part of me was taken away by the flood...

I couldn't believe the devastation. I was prepared for it. I knew what to expect but I felt like I was punched in the stomach. It was as if the heart and the soul of the city was gone. I felt like I was just a shell, with no insides when I was there. I can't explain it.

I was not the only one crying there. so many people felt the same way. We were like lost children looking for our childhood homes that we knew we would never be able to find. We were all lost, looking for something, not sure what it was that we lost.

Even the Mississippi has changed. It seemed calmer, as if its heart had been taken away, as if it were possible to drown a river. It just seemed like a river of heartbreak and tears. I walked along it every night. There was not one barge, not one ship, not one tug. It was as if all life had just disappeared.

I couldn't sleep at night. Whenever I tried to fall asleep I could feel the panic and dread of the people who drowned as the water came up a foot a minute when the levees broke. I thanked G-d that I had made it out alive, and that my family ended up alive and safe. I felt guilty at the same time, that I had survived, that I was still alive. But I know there was nothing I could have done if I had stayed, nothing except to die with them.

It was so strange, the things that made me cry. I couldn't get a streetcar to get to Temple Saturday and then I realized there were no streetcars, not one, anywhere. And I realized I had never seen new orleans without street cars, ever in my life before.